


Slices of Key Lime Pie

by Arutyh



Series: Shards of Knowledge, Lullabies of Emotion [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alien Romance, Alien/Human Relationships, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Future, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series Finale, Romance, Slice of Life, Soulmates, Teenagers, Young Adults, Yu-Gi-Oh! - Freeform, Zexal - Freeform, keyshipping - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 05:02:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26347561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arutyh/pseuds/Arutyh
Summary: Keyshipping one-shots set before the days of when "A Beginner's Guide to Reading Biology" takes place.
Relationships: Astral & Tsukumo Yuuma, Astral/Tsukumo Yuuma
Series: Shards of Knowledge, Lullabies of Emotion [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1914532
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23
Collections: Zexal Month





	1. Chapter 1

"Yuma, what are you trying to do exactly?"

I leaned forward while midair to try and improve the angle to view Yuma's actions, though it did not help as much as I hoped. He appeared to be fighting against the knots suspending the hammock, but I could not fathom as to why.

Yuma turned back to look towards me, "Oh, yeah, I'm taking down the hammock. At this point, it's just taking up space."

"Has it lost its durability?" It's peculiar Yuma would choose to take it down if that wasn't the case.

He glanced back towards the hammock, "Surprisingly no, but I'm too big for it now," Yuma continued under his breath, "...this growth spurt's been a hell of a hassle to deal with."

I nodded, "You have indeed grown along the vertical axis. I am similarly at the stage when individuals from Astral World experience an increase in their height."

" _Wha?!_ Aw come on; you were already taller than me when you _weren't_ floating!" Yuma's irritation rang in the back of my head.

"Is it a bad thing for you to be shorter than me?"

"Well, no… but…" A peculiar sensation resonated within my mind, he chuckled, "There was a story I read about people who could turn into animals, and there was a bovine person who waited until they were at least the same height as an equine person to tell them something."

An odd story, but Yuma has told me stranger tales, "And you were hoping to do the same?"

He returned his attention to the knots, "Heh, it was a thought that I had, yeah."

Silently approaching from behind as Yuma manipulated the rope, I rested the soles of my feet against the wooden floor.

Let's see how far off he is…

I flinched. Wait… Are my eyes failing me?!

Bringing a hand up to the crown of my head, I hovered it perpendicular to the limits of Yuma's own skull.

My eyes were as sharp as they've ever been; our heights are identical.

Luckily, he was none the wiser, "Oh yeah, you mentioned before that you've been talking with Eliphas about living here. How's that been going?"

I smiled, concluding that it will be more interesting to see Yuma discover this for himself. My feet lifted off the floor once more, "He is set in his ways, but progress is being made."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been debating doing this for a while now but I finally figured "eh, where's the harm?"
> 
> Unlike the main story, which focuses on the beginning of Yuma & Astral's physical relationship, this is just random fluff moments in no particular order from before the relationship gets serious. 
> 
> These one-shots are canon to "A Beginner's Guide to Reading Biology", and as a firm believer of the "show don't tell" rule, this fills that annoying little issue I've had for a while where I want to hint at certain past events but don't want to fall into too much exposition territory. 
> 
> I have no concrete plans for this work, but if you enjoy Reading Biology then I recommend subscribing to this work as well for whenever I potentially add new segments to it.
> 
> Oh yeah, quick note about this chapter; Yuma's referring to Fruits Basket.


	2. Chapter 2

"You sure you're okay?"

I rested my arms behind my head, a slight pout on my face, "I swear, you worry too much about me. Just hurry up and get back to Astral World so you can return here sooner!"

A smile tugged at Astral's lips, "Very well. Eliphas did say this was my last task before I can reside on Earth.” He gave a brief nod, “I'll be off then."

We shared one last hug before Astral boarded onto the Different Dimension Airship. A vast cerulean and magenta portal opening up before the large, otherworldly brass contraption flying through the twilight air. 

With the portal closing behind it, I felt a building tenseness leave my body. A sad sigh escaped my lungs.

…Sorry, Astral. 

I just don't want to make things complicated between us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short, but I got inspired to write it while working on the current chapter for Reading Biology. 
> 
> Also, the Google Docs app has been giving me major issues, to the point that I had to rewrite a major section, so... I got delayed from that. ; - ;


	3. Chapter 3

After hearing Yuma swear to himself in the kitchen for the umpteenth time in a row, I begrudgingly set down the picture frame in my hands. ...My kanso is going to have to wait it seems.

Slowly bringing myself back up to my feet, I made my way towards my distressed grandson. While I’d prefer he not say those things in the house, going off of the other sounds I’ve been hearing I’d much prefer not seeing my kitchen in shambles.

The boy seemed to be hunched over the counter as I approached from behind, “Just what in the world has gotten you so worked up in here?”

He flinched back, unaware I’d even approached, “Gran-! I’m, well, I’ve been trying to make tempered chocolate.”

My brows shot up, “Tempered chocolate?! Oh Yuma, even some professional chefs struggle to make it.” Peeking behind him, my eyes noticed a few of his previous attempts, “May I take a look at what you’ve got so far?”

“Oh, yeah, go ahead!”

Yuma scooted aside as I approached. An assortment of both milk and white chocolate rested in various moulds, with a few test dollops drying on wax paper, “Considering your experience, these look fine for a novice.”

The young man raised an eyebrow at me, “How do you know about all this stuff?”

“Dear, do you have any idea how many Valentine’s chocolates I’ve made in my lifetime?” The realization hit me as soon as the words left my mouth, “Oh! Are you making these for someone?”

Nervousness immediately superseded his relaxed demeanour, “Uh, well I’m making them more as practice. My friend lives... abroad, and Valentine’s Day will be long gone when I see ’em again.”

There was no point in hiding the smile on my face, “Tell me about them. Boy? A girl maybe?”

He blinked for a moment, apparently a bit unsure in his answer, “...My friend uses male pronouns, so I think he's a boy... I guess I never asked before.”

I nodded, “Is he a duelist like yourself?"

Yuma's eyes lit up like a pair of newborn stars, "Oh like you wouldn't believe! He lives for it! Taught me everything I know, and in return I went and taught him everything I could about what it's like living here! I can't even count how many moments the two of us shared while he was still here-"

The struggle to keep my inner high school girl from squealing at the recountings of such an adorable young romance was quite troublesome as the boy kept talking. I made sure to nod every so often.

"-he was pretty uptight when I first met him, but you know, at some point we really started working well as partners during our duels."

"He sounds positively lovely. Quite the catch if I do say."

The boy's cheeks took on an adorable shade of red, "I- I don't, uh-"

Chuckling, I turned back to the chocolates, "What do you plan to do with all this chocolate in the meantime?

Yuma blinked, "I can just put them in the freezer until he visits again, no?"

I sighed, "'Afraid not. Long periods of cold makes chocolate lose its texture."

"No way, you're kidding!!"

"Far from it," I replied to the disappointed teen, "Your best bet now is to hand them out to as many people as possible, assuming you want to avoid giving the wrong idea of course."

"Can't we just eat them ourselves though?"

My brow raised towards him, "And give your sister another addiction? She already has enough of a problem with coffee as it is."

He sighed, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

I patted his back, "Come now, I'll help clean up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, I know, I know. The main work will resume at some point. Getting a new laptop configured is a mess and a half. Here's something I started working on some months ago in the meantime, hope it'll keep y'all satisfied until then. Happy Valentine's everyone! <3


End file.
